William Clyde Gibson pleads guilty to second murder

Escorted by Floyd County deputies, William Clyde Gibson heads to court Tuesday morning for formal sentencing after being convicted in October murdering Christine Whitis. The jury recommended the death penalty for Gibson. Gibson faces two more murder trials.(Photo: By Matt Stone/The Courier-Journal)Buy Photo

William Clyde Gibson III, the New Albany man accused of brutally slaying three women, pleaded guilty to the October 2002 murder of Karen Sue Hodella in court Thursday morning, reversing his intention to pursue three speedy murder trials against him.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said he didn’t know what motivated Gibson to change his plea but the deal includes the condition that the state can’t use the conviction in any future prosecution. Orth scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 17 at 11 a.m.

Hodella’s sister, Patricia Hyatt, said in a phone interview that the family knew about the plea agreement and accepted it because it’s a step in closing the case. But the penalty hardly fits the crime, she said.

Of the prison term for her sister, Hyatt said that “it’s not enough for her. It’s not enough for the other two women either, but he’s off the street right now. That makes it safe for everybody else out there.”

The woman added that the family will always grapple with understanding what motivated Gibson’s horrendous act. “We’ll never know the reason why. Why did he do this?” she said.

Gibson was arrested nearly two years ago after police discovered the strangled, mutilated body of 75-year-old Clarksville resident Christine Whitis, a family friend, in his garage. They later dug up the body of Stephanie Kirk, 35, who’d disappeared March 25 2012, in Gibson’s yard. Henderson filed death penalty cases in both women’s deaths.

Hodella’s murder had remained a mystery for nearly a decade, but after his April 2012 arrest, Gibson admitted to investigators that he’d also fatally stabbed Hodella, a Florida beautician whom he’d met in a bar. Her badly decomposed body was found washed up beside the Ohio River in Clarksville in early 2003.

Orth sentenced Gibson to die following a two-week trial in Whitis’ death and death penalty verdict last October. A second capital murder trial in Kirk’s slaying is set for June 16. On Thursday, Henderson said the length of time and other circumstances in Hodella’s case convinced him not to pursue capital murder.

The prison term is based on an advisory sentence of 55 years, with an additional 10 years because of Gibson’s prior criminal history.

Hodella, who lived near Daytona Beach, had been in Southern Indiana for less than a week when she called her family in early October 2002 and asked them to buy her a bus ticket so she could come home the next day.

Family members told The Courier-Journal after Gibson’s arrest that Hodell had been visiting a boyfriend, but they’d been fighting, and she’d had enough and wanted to return home.

In a final conversation with relatives, Hodella told them that a “nice man” was buying her drinks at a bar. They never heard from her again — only to learn three months later that police had found her body by matching her thumbprint through an FBI database.

After the killing on Oct. 10, 2002 —Gibson’s 45th birthday — he had a tattoo inscribed on his lower right arm with the date, along with a picture of a knife.

Thursday’s hearing exposed a new tattoo — “death row x 3” imprinted on the back of Gibson’s shaved head. That posed legal questions for Orth whose role is to ensure Gibson receives fair trials and that all proceedings are free of incriminating signs or messages, even ones the defendant has had inscribed on himself.

It’s a problem because “that could prejudice a jury,” Henderson said, adding that the only solution may be to force Gibson to grow out his hair to cover the dark blue letter.

Orth ordered Gibson to remain in the Floyd County jail, delaying his return to state’s Death Row in Michigan City while she researches the matter. She also ordered Gibson be given no haircuts or sharp objects.

Floyd Sheriff Darrell Mills said he met with Orth and Henderson about the inscription, adding that he’s certain Gibson could not have given such a well fashioned tattoo to himself. Also, he couldn’t have had it etched while he’s been in Floyd’s custody because he’s kept in a solitary cell and escorted anywhere by two to three officers as a precaution after “many threats against my staff.”

“There are some issues with it,” Mills said of the tattoo. “What a dumbass.”

Hyatt, Hodella’s sister, said the family doesn’t expect to travel to next month’s sentencing, though she may send a letter to Orth to represent the family’s sentiments. For now, staying away is is a small step in helping Hodella’s grown children and other family members heal, Hyatt said.

“It’s just a horrible thing. We’re just trying not to relive it.”

Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 812-949-4040 or follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.